Black Cockatoos (Judith Wright)
The Darkling Thrush (Thomas Hardy)
Leda and the Swan (WB Yeats)
Barn Owl (Gwen Harwood)
Mudlarking
A Barred Owl (Richard Wilbur)
“Hope” is the thing with feathers (Emily Dickinson)
Ode to a Nightingale (John Keats)
Proud Songsters (Thomas Hardy)
Murmuration
Thornbills (Judith Wright)
The fly (Miroslav Holub)
Black Swan
The Death of the Bird (AD Hope)
The Windhover (Gerard Manley Hopkins)
The Magpies (Denis Glover)
Birds have fascinated poets for centuries, not just for their song and flight but as symbols: of hope, freedom, love, communication, peace, luck good and bad, and migration.
Thirteen Ways to Look at Birds brings six musicians from broad-ranging backgrounds together to interpret bird inspired poems, written by John Keats, Thomas Hardy, Emily Dickinson, Judith Wright, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Gwen Harwood, A.D. Hope and others. It features the Paul Kelly and Alice Keath with composer James Ledger, with composer James Ledger along with the Seraphim Trio featuring Anna Goldsworthy on piano, Helen Ayres on violin and Tim Nankervis on cello.
Paul says “This is the second time I’ve worked with James setting a group of poems to music. Writing with him, I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. He surprises and challenges me in the best possible way. And it’s been an honour working with such a talented gang on stage and in the studio. I’m excited to be sending our fledglings out into the air!”
Thirteen Ways to Look at Birds is a unique marriage of electronics, acoustic instruments and the human voice, celebrating winged creatures from the barn owl to the nightingale, from the thornbill to the falcon, from the magpie to the swan.
Composer James Ledger says “Working with Paul always seems to uncover fascinating new musical worlds that neither of us would have found on our own. Thirteen Ways to Look at Birds lies somewhere in between our own usual languages. Alice, Tim, Helen, Anna and producer Bob have brought so much to this. I’m thrilled to be a part of something so unique.”
RELEASE DATE: 30th August 2019
